Let's pretend Covid is over and the world is back to normal. What would be the best beer destination in the US for someone traveling from Europe? Bonus points when it can be combined with a nice beer festival. These come to mind, but would love to hear additions to this list: Chicago during Fobab Denver during Gabf Tampa during Tbbw
Portland, OR. Denver, CO. Probably Michigan as a state too if you dig stouts. I don’t know all of the US beer fest beside those hosted by BA.
Good one! I spent a week in SD when traveling with my family a few years ago. I couldn't really visit the local breweries but promised myself I should go back for that.
Not a festival fan, much prefer to belly up to a bar and drink a full size beer. With that being said, I went to Denver during 2019 GABF and we only hit bars over the course of 3 days and we had an awesome time. Great beer and food scene, plus a very walkable city. I would also add Philly to the list (hometown bias) and San Francisco. Both have a great craft beer history, walkable and great food.
I visited Portland, OR in June 2018 as part of attending HomebrewCon. There is no doubt the beer scene there is great. After all of the 'excitement' there in 2020 it will likely be a long time before I visit Portland, OR. Permit me to suggest an alternative of Portland. ME. I visited Portland, ME in 2019 and the beer scene there is excellent too. Must be something about naming a city "Portland" and craft beer!?! Cheers!
Yeah, because of what happened in a 2 block area is perfect reason to discard a whole city. Better not visit Philadelphia, the city government there burns down whole blocks of their own city. Oh, wait......
I always suggest Bend Oregon in these threads. Especially if you like doing outdoors things. Fly into PDX, spend a couple days (day trips to Hood River and/or The Coast are easy), a few days in Bend, then back to PDX for a couple more days and your flight home.
We all get to decide where we want to visit. Even you too. And you have sage advice on Philly. I have decided to not visit that city either.
And permit me to suggest visiting the breweries in the surrounding Hill Country. For example: http://hillcountrycraftbeertrail.com/ Cheers!
Second for Portland, ME. The city is small, quaint, vibrant, and diverse. Lots of great beer, and then you got the Mane Coast and easy access to the interior. I’m certain they have some good festivals, though I’ve never checked. Pick late Summer (August / September), for the weather, and hope they are back to up and running after this past year.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Lots of great destinations, I like @BBThunderbolt 's suggestion of Bend combined with PDX. I think I've visited several places before which had some riots in the past, so that won't stop me from going...
Depending on how much time you have, an itinerary like this is possible: Fly into Vancouver B.C. a couple days> Bellingham WA, a day, day and a half, maybe two, I'll show ya around and buy ya a couple> Seattle, a couple days, maybe 3> PDX, consider this your base camp; a couple days, then drive over to Bend for a couple, up to Hood River, back to PDX, another day or two, then out to Astoria and/or Tillamook for an overnight, back to PDX for whatever, fly home. OR (if you have the time) From Astoria, south along the coast (plenty of beer stops), into northern California (lots of beer!), into San Francisco and fly home from there. If you get the chance to visit, post in the NW forum, and we'll be happy to give suggestions!
Both states are loaded with good breweries and I like to take pub crawls and travel to view the scenery, but if you insist on city names and want to confine me , I'll go with the Greater Denver area and the Greater Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater area.
Head to Burlington, VT for the Vermont Brewers Festival. Then head south from there, there's about 500 miles and beyond of great beer south of Burlington!
Fall in The Asheville NC area. The splendor of Fall foilage. Outdoor adventures, whitewater, hiking, climbing. Cruising The Blue Ridge Parkway enjoying the kaleidoscope of color that Fall provides. Oh yes, and the beer too at the end of another bluebird Fall day, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium tours on the rare raining Fall day, Burial, and my personal favorite The Wedge in The Art District to get your art fix, and all the new breweries that keep opening in the area to our surprise and delight. Plenty of incredible food along the way. That's a good start to your first few days in NC. Summer, that's another whole story left for another day.
Actually, in the last couple of years Rochester NY has gotten a really good beer scene. The beer fest in the summer is great, it is held at the public market (farmers market) in the city. If anyone is heading to Niagara Falls they should stop by for an evening. There are a lot of places to visit in the city (Genessee Brew House is great) and outside the city. For instance .... close by in Fairport NY, there are three breweries, a distillery plus a number of bars.
in all my travels for work and fun here is mine - Portand, Seattle and Vancouver (fly to one end and take the train for rest) - asheville/Charlotte - tampa bay area - Denver - San Diego - St Louis
I have not been to enough locations to claim it is "best" but I certainly second the nomination of San Diego and the surrounding communities as a "must do" destination for beer lovers. Great beer PLUS excellent weather and many other awesome venues for fun. Pizza Port, Green Flash, Modern Times, Ballast Point, Stone, Alesmith, Belching Beaver, Societe, Mikkeller, Mission, Coronado, etc. etc. etc.
did San Diego couple years ago and was in shock at how many good breweries...even with a few days i couldnt do all
I've been to most mentioned in the thread, but will add a couple. A few times a year I go to Indianapolis, some very good breweries there. I've often gone to Santa Rosa, then to Chico, then some time near the Bay Area, down to Paso Robles. I've had some very good beer in New Mexico, ABQ and Santa Fe, while on vacation.
Give me a trip to the “Northeast Kingdom” in Vermont. Start at Mecca (Hill Farmstead). Then head to Stowe (Alchemist). Then Waterbury for lunch at Prohibition Pig and a stop at Craft Beer Cellar. Then move out of the kingdom to Burlington for Foam. I’ll go any time you want for that lineup.
I intend to go back to Milwaukee once travel is a go. Baseball, beer and the food was great. Very nice art museum, custard and cheese. If your into graveyards there is a great one. An easy four day weekend. Enjoy